Funding news
Show us the Money!
We had a lovely surprise this morning when a sponsorship cheque from taking part in the Charity Walk for Peace was presented to our team by the consort of the Mayor of Runnymede, Dr Brian Perry. You may remember we took part in the walk on the 25th of April the grounds of Windsor Great Park. It was a chilly day but we were excited to join with over 4500 participants representing 160 local charities and well worth the effort!
Thank you to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK for organising such a great event which enabled us to raise funds to upgrade our IT capabilities in line with our digital strategy.
Christmas Fundraising Campaigns
Brush up your skills for Autumn with VSNS training
Facebook Donate Button
Use your organisation's Facebook page to raise money by adding a donate button, which allows your supporters to donate directly to your cause.
To apply for a donate button, make sure that your charity's Facebook Page is categorised as either "Charity" or "Charitable organisation" and that your page admin is making the application. For Business Manager admins, access the application via https://business.facebook.com/donate/signup
You're now ready to complete the next three steps:
1. Submit your page for approval and verification
2. Make sure your page follows Facebook's community standards
3. Provide your organisation's bank account details to collect donations
Collect all your financial information before starting to set up your donations account and be aware it typically takes 2-3 weeks to be reviewed after submission.
Shop with AmazonSmile
What is it?
AmazonSmile first launched in the USA and then expanded to the UK in November 2017. Originally it only benefited 11 major charities, but now small and large UK registered charities can sign up.
How does it work?
AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. When you shop the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to your charity.
How do you sign up?
1. As the authorised representative of your charity go to org.amazon.co.uk
2. Search for your organisation using your charity number and enrol
3. Create an administrator account and accept the participation agreement after reading carefully
4. Verify your email address
5. Submit your bank account information
6. Upload a copy of your bank statement to verify your banking information
7. Send your supporters instructions on how to use AmazonSmile to benefit your charity
8. Start shopping!
Dementia Carers Support in Runnymede
This Dementia Action Week we’re celebrating the remarkable fundraising efforts of Frances Dyble-Goode, who runs the Dementia Carers Support group in Runnymede. Frances estimates that in the past 8 years DCS have raised £150,000 which has enabled the 3 groups to operate every week and fund all their extra activities and outings. To date there have been Christmas Parties, Cream Teas, Cinema trips, River Boat trips, Ole Time Music Hall, Kew Gardens, Saturday lunch clubs, Art Club, manicures, weekends away and a garden party once a year squeezed into Frances’ garden!
Here in Frances’ own words are her reasons for starting the group:
‘I decided what I missed more than anything with this terrible illness was a social life with my husband John who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at age 53. You cannot take your loved one to public places because of the nature of the illness, so I decided to start up a small evening 'Supper Club' for carers to bring along their loved ones and have a lovely evening together. This quickly grew to a very large group of people and since there was nowhere for them to be able to go together in the daytime, I again decided to find a venue that we could start up a 'Drop in Club' for them and the Dementia Carers Support Club was born.’
The first club was held in 2010, once a week at the Village Centre in Englefield Green, funded by Cllr. Marisa Heath. The group become a charity in April 2012 and a BBC2 television appearance led to £20,000 in public donations which enabled Frances to set up 2 more support groups in Woodham Day Centre, New Haw. The original Tuesday Club has been relocated to St. Paul’s Church Annex in Egham Hythe.
Frances has taken ‘Action for Dementia’ to a whole new level and was rightly awarded the ‘Unsung Hero Award’ on Friday 18/5/18. Well done Frances, we’re enormously proud of you and we’ll let you have the last word!
‘We have now about 70 people, Carers their loved ones, also Past Carers, as this is very important, after taking care of a loved one for over 5 to 10 years, they are left totally alone, so they keep coming to us, we are their extended family.’
For more information about Dementia Carers Support please visit their website